1996, the total number of unions decreased from 316 to 132 (Griffin 2002).
The original unions were reluctant to relinquish their titles, however, and the
resultant mega-unions usually had extremely long names. For instance, one
amalgamation resulted in the Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy,
Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union. (Although its offi-
cial name remains very long, it is now commonly known as the CEPU.)
7.4 A Renewed Attempt at Change: The Howard/Reith Reforms
Under Prime Minister John Howard, the LNP government from 1996 to 2007
attempted to further progress the reforms of Hawke/Keating. The major fea-
tures of industrial relations reform was to make individual contracts, known as
Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs), the main form of the setting of
wages and conditions. AWAs were actually introduced in 1996 but by 2005
less than 5 per cent of employees were on AWAs. These AWAs were still
subject to judicial review to determine as to whether they satisfied a‘no
disadvantage’test. In 2005 the government announced substantial amend-
ments made to the Workplace Relations Act 1996 by the Workplace Relations
Amendment (WorkChoices) Act 2005. Perhaps surprisingly for a document
proposing reduced regulation, the legislation was 758 pages long. The bulk of
the new WorkChoices regimen commenced on 27 March 2006.
A major feature of WorkChoices was the replacement of the federal basis of
award tribunals with the creation of a unitary workplace relations system,
based on the‘corporations power’of the Commonwealth government instead
of the industrial relations powers of Section 51 of the Constitution, on which
the system had rested for a century. Under these powers all employers that are
deemed in law to be‘corporations’(generally any businesses that have Ltd in
their titles) were subject to the system devised by WorkChoices.
Other features included:
Increasing the capacity of employers, employees and unions to be parties
to a collective agreement. For instance, employers and employees were
only required to‘lodge’the agreement with the new Workplace Author-
ity, rather than be scrutinized and certified by the AIRC.
Limiting the role of awards, such as reducing the‘number of allowable’
matters in awards.
Modernizing the role of the AIRC from a one of enforcement to one of
facilitator.
The establishment of the Australian Fair Pay Commission (AFPC) to replace
the AIRC for the purpose of setting minimum wages and conditions.
Australia’s Industrial Relations Singularity